The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 936 - 915: Regret

Chapter 936: Chapter 915: Regret

Manbao drew back the curtains with bubbling enthusiasm as she gazed at the lively scene outside, having always been pacing around in the herbal pharmacy, how could she not know the profit involved?

But profit wasn’t that easy to come by. Chinese ginseng was only available in the southwest region, and most of it was wild. If you wanted to buy it, you would have to send people to the southwest.

That region was rife with miasma, and not to mention the Zhou Family, even other pharmacies that seemed to have substantial foundations probably found it very difficult to send a large number of people to the southwest to collect Chinese ginseng.

After purchasing, it also had to be escorted all the way back, and that wasn’t to mention the sale of the finished product.

Hemostatic ointment had a wide range of uses, but the thing in the world that made people think of stopping blood most was the matter of swords and soldiers, which meant this medicine was involved in military provisions.

Only Jishi Hall with its profound foundations could ultimately carry on with this line of business. The Zhou Family, let alone doing it, might get picked out and used as a chopping block, becoming riddled with holes just by being slightly associated with it.

Now, it had been half a year since the medicine formula was revealed to the world, and Manbao and the Zhou Family’s lives were carefree without diseases or disasters—clearly, Jishi Hall had taken all the profits and also blocked all the disasters.

Just because of this one point, Manbao was able to continue exchanging medical knowledge with them peacefully.

Moreover, there was one thing that Manbao hadn’t told anyone—this medicinal herb, this formula, wasn’t something she came up with out of thin air, but was told to her by Teacher Mo.

Teacher Mo didn’t ask her for anything in return.

He said that this was a precious treasure left behind by history, from which their descendants also benefited.

Medicine is different from other disciplines, as it is a subject that saves lives. He wasn’t a merchant, only a doctor and teacher. The former heals lives, while the latter teaches fishing, so he didn’t need to care so much about profit.

The human heart can only hold so much, and if you care about too many things, these two qualities will become diluted in your heart, and knowledge will decrease. Teacher Mo hoped that Manbao would also think this way.

He had always felt that Manbao learned too many things and should focus on medicine, not to waste her talent.

Mr. Zhuang also told Manbao that she didn’t need to learn too much. She only had to read with him, understand the ways of the world, and master her medical skills.

If it were only one teacher saying this, Manbao might have felt somewhat unconvinced, but with both teachers saying the same, Manbao knew she should listen to them, so she never cared too much.

In Mr. Zhuang’s words, things in this world are not strictly black or white. If one were to thoroughly sort everything out, it is feared that one would have to live the rest of their life amidst nit-picking, which would be both dull and a waste of time.

So Manbao felt that some things needed to be nit-picked, but many things in the world actually didn’t need to be judged one by one.

Daji didn’t quite understand these things, but seeing that Miss Man had a clear mind and wasn’t being deceived by Jishi Hall, but rather chose not to nit-pick, he felt at ease.

Upon returning to the Changqing Alley where they rented their place, Mr. Zhuang and his two disciples had just finished their morning lessons and were waiting to have lunch.

Seeing Manbao return, they asked with concern, "How is it? Is Jishi Hall in the capital easy to talk to?"

"Easy to talk to," Manbao said cheerfully, "Shopkeeper Zheng was particularly amiable, just too courteous, he even wanted to pay me a salary for sitting in the hall."

Mr. Zhuang, who was sipping tea, almost sprayed it out as he asked, "Did you accept?"

Manbao shook her head in regret, "How could I have the heart to accept? I only sat in the hall for half a day and still had to learn skills from the doctors. Not paying is one thing, but taking money... that would just look bad, wouldn’t it?"

Mr. Zhuang swallowed his tea, put down his cup, and asked, "How much did they offer you for sitting in the hall?"

"Five taels per month."

Zhou Lijun looked up in surprise, "That much?"

Manbao nodded, "Yes, being a doctor really does make money."

Mr. Zhuang asked, "The money they verbally agreed to give you?"

"No, I have to sign a contract. In addition to money, I get clothes, shoes and socks each season. Jishi Hall’s treatment is truly good," Manbao said. "I’ve thought about it, and once I’ve completed my apprenticeship, I’ll sit in attendance at Jishi Hall. Earning money by sitting in the pharmacy really is more than what we make from farming at home."

Zhou Lijun nodded repeatedly. In a few years, they wouldn’t be able to sell the new wheat seeds, and gradually the whole Jiannan region would switch to the new wheat. Then people could keep their own seeds, and by that time, the money earned from a year of farming really wouldn’t be as much as what a young lady could earn by sitting in attendance.

Indeed, having a skill is beneficial, it’s a pity she couldn’t memorize the medicinal materials, nor could she learn medicine, or else she would have studied with her young aunt.

Mr. Zhuang, seeing the regretful and eager expressions on both the aunt and niece’s faces, held back a smile and asked, "What else is written in the contract besides these terms?"

"I didn’t read on." It was only with a lot of willpower that she resisted, "It’s embarrassing to look at it for too long. What if he misunderstands that I’m interested?"

Bai Shan said, "But you actually are interested."

"But it’s not good to let him know that."

Mr. Zhuang shook his head, laughed, and said, "You should have continued reading, silly girl. Benefits don’t come for free. If you take Jishi Hall’s attendance fee, then you’re going to be a doctor at Jishi Hall. How much of the consultation fee will you get to keep when you make home visits in the future?"

"That’s just a minor detail, the main issue is that contracts always stipulate a duration. You might have to stay sitting in attendance at Jishi Hall for ten or twenty years, but you’re still young and have a long road ahead of you. There’s no need to make such an early commitment," Mr. Zhuang was really afraid that the child would sign the contract out of embarrassment or an impulsive heart.

Manbao opened her mouth wide, "Then wouldn’t I have to stay in the capital permanently? I still need to go home to see my parents."

Bai Shan immediately said, "Then you definitely won’t have time for that. You’d be selling yourself to work as a permanent laborer."

He said, "This Shopkeeper Zheng is not being honest. Will you still go?"

"Of course I’ll go. Why not?" Manbao said, "I’m going to exchange medical knowledge with him, not dwell on these things. Now that I know, I won’t sign the contract."

Mr. Zhuang nodded, "Good, you didn’t come to the capital just to gain experience, but also to acquire knowledge. The Zheng Family has produced several imperial physicians, and there’s one in this generation too. Learning from them, even if you don’t meet the doctors themselves, you can still ask for advice on difficult cases through others—a convenience many doctors don’t have."

"Teacher, you’ve been inquiring about Jishi Hall as well?"

Mr. Zhuang looked at her and smiled, "Do you really think your teacher is oblivious to the outside world, solely focused on teaching you the classics?"

Since he had promised Old Madam Liu and Old Master Bai to bring them to the capital, he naturally had to make necessary preparations.

While speaking, Aunt Rong called out from the kitchen, "The food is ready. We can eat now."

Zhou Lijun immediately stood up to carry food from the kitchen. Manbao, Bai Shan, and Bai Erlang also went to help.

As Aunt Rong brought out the pot filled with rice, she said, "Young Master, with so many people in the house, I’m afraid I can’t handle it alone. How about we hire two more helpers?"

Now in their household, there were not just the masters but also servants.

Bai Erlang had brought two servants to the capital, and the Bai Family had even more people. Including her, there were six in total, plus the young master and the xiaos from next door...

Making meals for so many people every day was very tiring.

Zhou Lijun immediately said, "We can all help."

Aunt Rong then smiled and said, "We can’t have Young Lady Zhou doing these things. Let’s still hire two helpers. You all have other matters to attend to outside."

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